Polymorphisms in the promoter and coding regions of the synapsin III gene - A lack of association with schizophrenia

The human synapsin III gene, located on chromosome 22q12-13, has previously been reported to indicate a susceptibility for schizophrenia. Noval rare v ariants (Thr136Thr in exon 3, Pro468Ser, Glu525Gln and Pro534Leu in exon '1 2, and 1769 G/C in the untranslated reg ion of exon 13) were found in addit ion to the polymorphic variant (-196 G/A in the promoter region). No signif icant differences in genotypic or allelic frequencies of the -196 G/A polym orphism were found between 87 unrelated schizophrenic patients and 100 heal thy controls, even when the patients were diagnostically subdivided into su btypes and course specifiers. Furthermore, allelic frequencies of the GATG repeat in intron 1 were not significantly different between the patients an d the controls. These results suggest that synapsin III gene polymorphisms are not associated with schizophrenia. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Bas el.